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I was recently contacted by Don from The Ethical Hacker Network (EH-Net) and asked if I was interested in attending the Black Hat USA 2014 Briefings as the winner of a monthly giveaway contest on his site. I had never been to either Black Hat or DEFCON, so I jumped at the chance to see what the fuss was all about. This is a short write-up on my conference experiences to help give future first-timers an idea of what to expect.

Before getting to my experiences as a BH/DC Virgin, let me share a little about myself. I’ve been performing digital forensics for five years and started studying hacking and pen testing about two and a half years ago. I originally started my studies to improve my forensics skills but it soon became my favorite hobby. I feel that it’s important to include this information, as there is a huge variety of ages, experiences and personalities of the attendees. What you bring as well as what you expect to do can drastically affect your own experience of these two events. Therefore, your mileage will most certainly vary.

It’s back to school time. That doesn’t just mean for the kids. Everyone can take this opportunity to feel refreshed, to take your career by the horns and ride it to prosperity. Break open that brand new notebook, sharpen your pencils and let’s get to work! With this month’s prize, you can not only learn a huge number of topics, but you can have unlimited access to this learning for an entire year! Our friends at CareerAcademy.com have a proven track record of providing top notch IT certification training. Their InfoSec and IT Certification Subscription includes unlimited access to their entire instructor led, OnDemand InfoSec and IT training catalog. The catalog comprises 45+ training courses, including EC-Council Endorsed CEH, CHFI, ECSA/LPT, ENSA, Cisco Authorized CCENT, CCNA, CCNP, Microsoft MCSA, MCSE, CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, ISACA CISA, CISM, ISC2 CISSP and VMware training courses. Make yourself stand out in your office! Begin your certification training today!

Alright EH-Netters. You know how this works. Participate on EH-Net and our various outlets, and you could be chosen as the winner. So submit an article, post in our forums, help a newbie, tweet about us, join our LinkedIn Group… Get Involved!! We’ll be watching during the entire month of Sept. The winner will be announced in early October.

Don’t wait to see if you won! Career Academy is also offering a limited time special pricing of $99 for the InfoSec and IT Certification Training All Access Subscription. Sign up now to get instant access! If you are the one lucky winner of the 12 months of training, you will receive a full refund on your $99 purchase. Get more details and access to free instant demo videos after the break.

We have a Winnah!!

Each year, EH-Net partners with Black Hat Events as a media sponsor. As part of that package we obtain an extra ticket to the Briefings portion of Black Hat USA 2014 with the specific intent on giving it to one of our top contributors. This year is no different on our end, although the Vegas side of things will be quite different this year. Although BH has called Caesars Palace it’s home for over a decade, the 2014 event has moved to the Mandalay Bay. But what hasn’t changed is the fact that this is the place to be for hackers. With the combination of Black Hat (Aug 2 – 7) and DEF CON (Aug 7 – 10) leading the way, and other smaller events in the Vegas area also running at the same time, this is the one week of the year like no other. For more information, please visit the Black Hat USA 2014 listing on the EH-Net Global Calendar of Events.

So whether you had no plans on going at all this year or already have plans to be in Vegas for that week anyway, EH-Net offered a chance to join what is known as “the show that sets the benchmark for all other security conferences.” As Black Hat returns for its 17th year, EH-Net member azmatt will join the brightest in the world for six days of learning, networking, and skill building. Congratulations on winning the Free Ticket to Black Hat USA 2014 Briefings Aug 6 – 7 worth $2200. Didn’t win? Don’t worry. Regulars and even casual readers of EH-Net can still benefit as the $100 discount by using coupon code TDCCbr100off is still available.

Win Black Hat USA 2014 Briefings Ticket = $2200

Each year, EH-Net partners with Black Hat Events as a media sponsor. As part of that package we obtain an extra ticket to the Briefings portion of Black Hat USA 2014 with the specific intent on giving it to one of our top contributors. This year is no different on our end, although the Vegas side of things will be quite different this year. Although BH has called Caesars Palace it’s home for over a decade, the 2014 event has moved to the Mandalay Bay. But what hasn’t changed is the fact that this is the place to be for hackers. With the combination of Black Hat (Aug 2 – 7) and DEF CON (Aug 7 – 10) leading the way, and other smaller events in the Vegas area also running at the same time, this is the one week of the year like no other. For more information, please visit the Black Hat USA 2014 listing on the EH-Net Global Calendar of Events.

So whether you had no plans on going at all this year or already have plans to be in Vegas for that week anyway, here’s your chance to to join what is known as “the show that sets the benchmark for all other security conferences.” As Black Hat returns for its 17th year, you too can join the brightest in the world for six days of learning, networking, and skill building. Join them for four intense days of Trainings and two jam-packed days of Briefings. How do you do that? Simply participate. For the rest of June and the start of July, contribute to the EH-Net Community Forums, spread the word of EH-Net on your blogs, RT our tweets, join our LinkedIn Group… in other words GET INVOLVED! The winner will receive a Free Ticket to Black Hat USA 2014 Briefings Aug 6 – 7 worth $2200. Even casual readers of EH-Net can still benefit as we have also secured a $100 discount by using coupon code TDCCbr100off. So get at it, and we’ll be watching. The winner will be announced on or near Monday July 7, 2014. Good luck.

If you’re doing any wireless penetration testing these days, odds are you have a WiFi Pineapple Mark IV from Hak5 in your toolkit. If you’re not a professional penetration tester or are just starting out with wireless hacking, the Pineapple is a device that will save you a considerable amount of headaches and is easily the best “all-in-one” tool for the job. This first article in a series of three tutorials is all about walking you through those first baby steps of configuration to get your new toy up and running. Part 1 starts with the Mark IV since many shops have this device already. Part 2 of this series covers the new Mark V, and Part 3 will show the device in action on a real pen test.

The first step to being successful in any endeavor is preparation, and the pineapple is no different. This tool packs a considerable amount of options into a small frame, and getting your new device up and running prior to “game time” is critical. We’ll show you how to set up your host computer’s network interfaces, the communication options to talk to the device, installing and configuring modules (known as Infusions), and more. So let’s get to it.

ShowMeCon 2014 in St. Louis is just around the corner on May 5 – 6 and includes a great speaker lineup featuring Dave Chronister, Adrian “IronGeek” Crenshaw, Wayne Burke, Jayson E. Street, John Matherly, Kevin Cardwell, Aamir Lakhani, Benoxa, Robert Reed, and Paul Coggin with keynotes by Evan “treefort” Booth, Andy Ellis, Ralph Echemendia and Raphael Mudge. ShowMeCon 2014 also features a CtF event as well as training courses to be held just before the event with coverage of Network Defense, CISSP, Forensics, Ethical Hacking, Intro to PowerShell, Security+ as well as a course on Advanced Mobile, WiFi and Network Hacking.

The organizers of ShowMeCon 2014 were kind enough to offer Free Training Seats worth up to $6000 to top contributors. The winners this time around are EH-Netter, SephStorm, and a top contributor to our LinkedIn Group, Kurt Ellzey. Each of the winners will get their pick of one course offered at the event as well as entrance into the con for a great week of hacking education. Don;t forget to report back on the course and con. Congrats and have fun!! For those who didn’t win, you can still get in on the action by getting a 5%10% Discount using Coupon Code: EHNSMC14.

Backdoors are once again thrust into the forefront with this week’s breaking news that the NSA allegedly hacked Chinese router company Huawei’s servers. Back in October 2012 the House Intelligence Committee accused Huawei, which claims to interconnect one third of the Internet, of embedding backdoors into routers and “posing a national security threat.” And thanks to another Edward Snowden bombshell, we now know that the NSA took their own measures to ensure perpetual access to Huawei routers.

Government espionage is nothing new. Although both sides in the example above dismiss the claims, these recent developments confirm that the location of the battlefield is forever changed. Instead of bullets and bombs, the new intelligence war is being fought with almost imperceptible bursts of electricity. Reminds me of the classic AC/DC song “Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap,” where they poetically proclaim that, “For a fee I’m happy to be your backdoor man.”

Win Hacker Training Worth $6000

We’re sure you’ve heard that our friends at Parameter Security have put together a great speaker lineup for ShowMeCon 2014 in St. Louis from May 5 – 6 that includes Dave Chronister, Adrian “IronGeek” Crenshaw, Wayne Burke, Jayson E. Street, John Matherly, Kevin Cardwell, Aamir Lakhani, Benoxa, Robert Reed, and Paul Coggin with keynotes by Evan “treefort” Booth, Andy Ellis, Ralph Echemendia and Raphael Mudge. These experts will tackle a variety of specialized topics such as hacking mobile devices, cloud computing, leveraging mobile devices in pen tests, cryptanalysis, how the most protected systems can be breached, defending your systems, forensics and more at this cutting-edge, two day con. ShowMeCon 2014 also features a CtF event. But in addition to being a quality con, they are also hosting training courses to be held just before the event with coverage of Network Defense, CISSP, Forensics, Ethical Hacking, Intro to PowerShell as well as a course on Advanced Mobile, WiFi and Network Hacking.

EH-Net has worked it out with the organizers of ShowMeCon 2014 to offer 3 Free Training Seats worth up to $6000 to top contributors. As we’ve done in the past, all you have to do is start posting in our Community Forums , spread the word on Twitter, join our LinkedIn Group… get involved. Suggest helpful hints, help a newbie, offer great career advice… anything you can think to share with the community is a chance to win. Participation will be tracked and the winners announced on April 4. Each of 3 winners will get their pick of one course offered at the event as well as entrance into the con for a great week of hacking education. More details after the break. Good luck!!